Dead Man Walking

Severus had no clue what time it was. He had left Spinner's End at ten o'clock, yet did not have a watch, nor did he have any clue how far the stop was from his house. All he knew was that he was ridiculously hot, dirty, and the damn streetlight had not stopped flickering since he got there.

"Come on Li--," he stopped himself short, blushing at his error.

The street, so bustling during the day, seemed deserted at night. Dust from an unusually dry summer swirling in the trash-filled street. The lack of lighting cast an eerie glow onto the sidewalk, the shadows dancing oddly on the cracked pavement. The slight breeze dragged trash aimlessly across the dusty pavement. The sky was cloudy with smog, covering any evidence of the stars or the moon.

Severus snapped out of his meditation by a bus rumbling around the corner. Its brakes screeched to a halt a few meters too far from the actual stop, opening its door to let a certain red head exit. She seemed to be confused at first, but quickly recovered when her eyes met his. She betrayed a small smile as she ran towards him.

"My goodness, you'd think the driver never drove a bus before," she exclaimed as she took his hand. "Come on; let me show you the place."

They walked a few minutes until she broke the silence. "It's not a restaurant, per se; more of an all night coffee house that thinks it serves food."

"Hmm."

She paused a moment. "Is there a name behind the mysterious persona, or are you like the Man with No Name?"

Severus stopped a moment, but quickly recovered his composure and caught up with the seemingly babbling woman. He cleared his throat and muttered, "Severus. Severus Snape."

"Well, Severus, my name's Alice Miles. Nice to meet you." She stopped, spun around towards him, and extended his hand. Severus stared blankly for a moment until he tentatively reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Pleasure's all mine, Mrs. Miles."

"It's Miss. Please call me Alice. Oh," she turned around. "Talk about luck. Here we are." She stopped in front of a nondescript storefront in a somewhat cleaner and better-lit part of town. Alice grabbed his hand and dragged a somewhat reluctant Snape behind her.

Inside was a seemingly clean, yet bare, display of assorted foods. Behind that sat a bored looking cashier who looked a bit too young to work the night shift. Behind her was a dirty counter full of tea and coffee making supplies. A list of price hung above that, listing prices for far more items than the place seemed to carry. Taking a glimpse at the rest of the dimly lit shop, Severus saw a few battered sets of wicker tables and chairs. A lone computer sat in the corner. It was sitting on a makeshift desk that looked like it used to be one of the tables. A dirty indigo sofa set was against the farthest wall. The whole shop seemed empty.

"This place is usually bustling on weekends, drawing large numbers of the uni crowd. On weekday nights, though, it tends to be somewhat empty."

"So I see," Severus said softly.

Alice dragged a somewhat hesitant Severus to the cough at the far end of the room.

"What will you have?" Severus looked up at her warily. "I'm rather broke at the moment..."

"Nonsense. I invited you for coffee, so coffee you'll get."

"I cannot--" She gave him a worried yet stern gaze. "Fine. Coffee. Black."

Alice raised her eyebrow at this. "Only that? Do you want a sandwich, too? They make a mean tuna sandwich, and they do tend to be fresh somewhat into the night." He stole a disgusted glance at the spare-looking display case, remembering his unsatisfying dinner of tinned green beans. "Fine, that too." Then, as an afterthought, "Please."

The redhead grinned at his bid at politeness. "Coming right up!" she shouted, a bit too loudly for his tastes, and walked towards the barista with a flourish.

Severus sank back into the worn cushions, pondering his situation. "Severus, old boy, what have you gotten yourself into? She's not Lily, let it go. She's way to...hyper for Lily; and besides, Lily's dead."

He sat with that train of thought for a few minutes until Alice trudged back, placing the laden tray on the scratched coffee table. She took a plate of sandwich and placed it in front of him. He reached for the black coffee himself, trying not to feel that he was being waited on as well as being a moocher. Alice, looking far too pleased, also placed a small slice of cake near his cup. At Severus' raised eyebrow, she merely shrugged and said, "What can I say? I feed my men."

Severus just scowled at her frankness, taking another sip of the bitter coffee.

"So," she said, after a few minutes. "What do you do for a living?"

He pondered this. "Here and there. I have yet to gain...steady employment."

"Really? Are you new to the area?"

"No, I grew up here, but I was employed for years as a teacher at a boarding school. They have since...closed."

"Oh? What happened? What subject did you teach? And where?"

"Er--chemistry. At Hogwarts. They, uh, had a scandal. Seems they let, uh, political extremists teach."

She twitched for a moment, yet seemed to regain her composure quickly.

"Is something the matter, Miss Miles?"

She seemed a bit flustered when he asked. "Oh, uh, nothing, nothing. I just used to have a, er, that is, my father dabbled in chemistry a little."

"Oh? What happened?" He seemed a little nonplussed at this.

"He died. A few years ago."

Oh. That would explain that. "Oh, I'm sorry to have brought it up."

"You didn't know, silly." She let out a nervous laugh.

"Still. My condolences."

They ate in silence after that rather awkward moment. When the redhead got up from her seat, Severus readied himself for the rejection. She started walking for the door silently until inexplicably she turned around and said, "Well, come on silly!"

Severus could only shrug at that and walked to the door with her. Exiting the little shop, she asked, "Same time tomorrow?"